Written by a rollergirl, this blog is dedicated to challenge the misconceptions of women and size.

Friday, August 22, 2008

CAMPAIGN FOR REAL BOOTY: HOLLY GOHARDLY

In honor of tomorrow’s bout at Charm City against Carolina, I thought it would be all too fitting to showcase some meaty Charm City ass. A pivot and blocker for both the CCRG All Stars and my teammate on Speed Regime, I give you Holly Gohardly!!!

Photo by globalglenn.

“I [once] had a rollergirl tell me she worshipped my ass, which was pretty funny.”

“I like my ass in derby because it serves a purpose,” says Holly. “It's one of the few times where taking up space is a positive attribute.”

“I didn't always like my booty,” Holly admits. “I felt the traditional self consciousness that the media imposes on all women. ‘Hey look at me I'm 5'9" and slender and have a small butt that fits in my bikini,’ and here I am trying to stick my butt into a size L bikini bottom and it still doesn't fit! But the weird thing is that my jeans get smaller and smaller every time I go to put them on, and that must mean my behind is getting bigger but I like it more and more.”

Photo by EPMD.

“When I first started derby, Cherry Violence told me that your ass will get a lot bigger playing derby, and wow, that was spot on. But I think being physically active has a large roll to play as well in being and feeling better about yourself and your changing body as you get older and your metabolism starts to slow down.”

After briefly playing for the DC Rollergirls, Holly joined Charm City in May 2007, but the start of her derby career in Baltimore was riddled with injuries, most notably an AC separation followed by a complete AC tear and necessary surgical repair. But that injury only made her a better player.

“When I was ’oft’ injured and couldn't block, I would come to every practice and work on my footwork. When I felt comfortable pack skating, I still had a hard time getting over the psychological fear of hitting with my shoulder or moreso, getting hit in my shoulder, so I put about 95% of my effort into booty blocking,” Holly says. “I don't look at the 6 months that I was unable to scrimmage or bout as a negative thing, I see it as an opportunity where I was able to get comfortable on and trust my skates and learn how my body reacted and moved on skates. When I'm blocking in the pack I kind of find the other players with my booty, if they're up on it then I'm going to knock them down.”

Photo by fordprefectajt.

“I admire larger women in sports,” Holly says. “I cringe when I hear about how only ‘fit’ and ‘good looking’ women should represent the sport. That's total crap. You don't have to be 120 pounds or less to be fit.” Holly goes on to say, “But on the other hand I get disgruntled when larger women are constantly putting themselves down and bowing out over their weight without a second thought. Anybody can be successful in this sport and that's the beauty of it.”

Tomorrow holly and the rest of the CCRG All Stars take on Carolina at home. When asked how she plans on using her booty at the bout, Holly doesn’t falter – she knows exactly how she’s going to use it.

“I plan to use my booty this weekend to dominate the Carolina defense. How can they score points if my booty is taking up 2 places on the track? I'm excited we've got a big booty brigade lined up for this game so you will see flying booties everywhere!”

If you are interested in being featured in the Campaign for Real Booty, please e-mail me a bio and pix: cindylop-her@charmcityrollergirls.com